This statement describes Leeds City Council’s Public Task for the purposes of the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015 (the Re-use Regulations).
Reuse means the use of public sector information for a purpose other than the initial purpose for which it was produced, held, collected or disseminated.
Background
Leeds City Council is the local authority for the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, meaning that it is responsible for running most local services, including many of the city’s schools, social services, waste collection, highways, planning and street lighting.
Public task
Leeds City Council’s key aim of the Vision for Leeds 2011 to 2030 is for Leeds to be the 'best city in the UK'. The delivery of public tasks underpins this vision which in practice means that:
- Leeds will be fair, open and welcoming
- Leeds’ economy will be prosperous and sustainable
- all Leeds’ communities will be successful
Leeds City Council is bound by statute. Its functions are set out in numerous Acts of Parliament and many of these functions have associated legal duties.
A comprehensive list of all duties and statutes applicable to local authorities (not all of which apply to Leeds City Council) can be found at data.gov.uk.
The role of the council is to exercise its functions (powers and duties) in areas which are devolved to it under various Acts of Parliament e.g. Local Government Acts, in the following areas:
- provision of council services including leisure and cultural services;
- regulatory, Licensing and Enforcement functions, which the Council is obliged to undertake;
- financial transactions including payments, grants and benefits, and;
- to ensure the Council meets its statutory obligations, including those related to diversity and equal opportunity
Documents identified as available for re-use
The information that we collect and create is done so in accordance with our public task and is therefore generally available for re-use, subject to certain exclusions. Examples of exclusions include where a third party holds the copyright for the information or where access is restricted under other legislation such as:
- Data Protection Act 1998;
- Freedom of Information Act 2000;
- Environmental Information Regulations 2004, and;
- INSPIRE regulations
Details of information that we have already published for re-use can be found on our Publication Scheme. This should be checked prior to submitting a request as it may already be available.
The majority of information released will be done so under an Open Government Licence.
If you wish to re-use information which is not currently available, you may submit a combined access and re-use request under both the Freedom of Information Act and the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015. If we have released information previously but not under an Open Government Licence you may contact us to review this.
We will respond as soon as possible, and no later than 20 working days after receiving your request. If a full response to your request will take us longer than 20 working days we will contact you within the 20 day period to explain why.
If you wish to make a complaint about the way a request has been handled please contact us in the first instance and will we endeavour to rectify for you. If we are unable to resolve your complaint you may make an appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Further information can be found on their website at www.ico.org.uk.
Permission to re-use previously unreleased information is subject to access issues being resolved.
